


Ember Eyes

by florencedrunk



Series: The March 2017 Stucky Challenge [14]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Bucky is Charon, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-14
Updated: 2017-03-14
Packaged: 2018-10-05 02:23:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 538
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10295393
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/florencedrunk/pseuds/florencedrunk
Summary: The boat rises from beneath the river, and on it there's a man with long white hair and burning eyes of ember. A black muzzle hides half of his face, and in his hands he has a long oar. With one swift motion the vessel slides on the dark water and right in front of Steve.111. death’s doorstep





	

The boat rises from beneath the river, and on it there's a man with long white hair and burning eyes of ember. A black muzzle hides half of his face, and in his hands he has a long oar. With one swift motion the vessel slides on the dark water and right in front of Steve.

"She has been waiting for you," the ferryman says, his voice deep and tainted by an accent Steve doesn't recognise.

"How did she know I was coming?" Steve asks.

"Where else would you be going if not towards her?"

They call him many names — one for each language there is: Anubis, Charon, Hermes, Vanth. Steve's people call him the Winter Soldier.

"Payment first," the Soldier says, extending a hand towards him.

"Payment?"

"You want to cross the Styx, yes?" he asks. "You need to pay, first."

"I don't have any money."

"I have no use for money, except for the coins that come from the mouths of the dead," he explains. "If you don't have one, I might find something else that interests me, depending on how desperate you are to get to the other side."

"I am — desperate, I mean," Steve says. "Just tell me what you want."

The Soldier looks right through Steve's soul with his flaming eyes, but he doesn't like what he finds, because the next thing he says is, "You should not be here."

"But I have to see her."

"You are not dead," the Soldier says, curious. "Why do you want to face Death?

"She has my mother," Steve confesses. "I want her back."

"That is not how it works, child," the Soldier explains. "This river can be crossed only one way."

"But you can travel both ways, can't you?"

"I am not bound by the same rules you are."

"Then you have to help me."

"No, I do not."

"But—" Steve protests, "She let me get this far!"

"Yes, she did," he says. "But death can be merciful, can she not?"

"What about you?"

"I do not have a soul, how could I know such a feeling?"

"Let me cross the river, please," Steve begs. "I'll give you whatever you want."

"What do you know about _want_?" the Soldier begins. "Have you ever wanted something so badly that it consumed you from the inside? Have you ever craved something so badly that it might as well have been poison for how much it hurt you? Have you ever craved like a vampire craves light? Like a werewolf craves the moon that makes him lose his sense? Like a sailor craves the song of the siren that drives him into the abyss?"

"I know what I want," Steve says, jumping onto a rock so to be as tall as the Soldier. "I want my mother back, and I want you to help me. What do _you_ want in return?"

The Soldier lifts his hand towards Steve — silver claws, sharp and shiny even in the darkness of the cavern — and brushes it against his cheek, following the outline of his face, lifting his chin so that their eyes meet. The burning embers are gone, revealing two bluish-gray eyes.

"I want you," he says. "That is my price."

**Author's Note:**

> If you have questions or just want to say hi you can find me on [tumblr](http://florencedrunk.tumblr.com).


End file.
